I have been a house sitter - looking after folks' homes while they travel. After driving around Australia on my own I have settled at Beachmere, north of Brisbane. Now it's time to write.

Tuesday, September 22

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers

This Carnival has been held every year since 1949 - and my first visit was this year - September 2015. It is another item to cross off my "Bucket List" - and I am happy to do so.There is no real explanation for me not going - other than the fact that I suspected it would be very crowded and I avoid crowds, but a trip to Toowoomba and the Festival was part of a Gathering for 5W - Women Welcome Women World Wide - and I booked to go on it a long time ago.It did require me to go to Brisbane on Sunday night and stay with my daughter overnight as I needed to be in the city by 7.15 am - and rather than make the long trip early in the morning, it was easier to leave from her place.The group met at the Ibis Hotel in Brisbane, where some of the 5W people were staying and we quickly boarded the bus at 7.45 am and set off to Toowoomba. We sent a proposed itinerary, but I didn't read it. I was just so happy to go, that the detail was unimportant.Toowoomba is 125 kms from Brisbane and the bus took a familiar route as I have been to T'ba on many occasions, but this time, before reaching the town of Withcott, we detoured via the Murphy's Creek Road to the Spring Bluff Station. Read the history of the station here.

As part of the Carnival there were flowers everywhere. Below are some of my photos.

It was wonderful. While were were there, a coal train came through - having emptied its load at the Port of Brisbane, and on its way back for more at one of the mines to the west of Toowoomba and then a passenger train from Toowoomba arrived.Back on the bus after a very short walk around, we headed for a private home at Highfields, after travelling through Murphy's Creek.The garden was awesome. Here are some photos.

After that we went to one of the parks, where there were many more gardens with fantastic flowers.

Our next stop was Picnic Point for lunch which was wonderful. Amazing service there - and great views!!!! Our next stop was another park, and then as a surprise we went to a Japanese Garden!

As we headed down the back to Brisbane we were told that there was a surprise visit for us - a visit to an olive farm, and I will report on those at another time.

Diary of a House Sitter and Traveller

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My Journey

This blog has been about my 'house sitting' where I have spent weeks, or months caring for the home and pets of folks who travel. I too have enjoyed much travel, detailed in this blog and Adventures of an Aussie English Teacher. At the end of 2012, I set off on another adventure - driving on my own around Australia, taking photos, writing, blogging, and perhaps getting occasional opportunities to do workshops on Blogging, Writing, Writing Life Stories, Creating E-books, Photobooks, or Bamboo.

I left Brisbane on November 25th, 2012, returning on April 30th, 2013. In June I moved to Beachmere, Queensland.